


you and me and the road ahead

by only_because3



Series: talk about changes (ain't love strange) [1]
Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/M, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-11
Updated: 2017-10-11
Packaged: 2019-01-15 23:49:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,052
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12331290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/only_because3/pseuds/only_because3
Summary: The sidewalk is already bustling with people, everyone trying to beat the morning rush which only results in an earlier than usual morning rush, and when her cab door swings open before she's even finished paying her driver, Lena has to take a long, deep breath so that she doesn't snap at whoever is rushing her. Except no one starts clambering inside and when Lena gathers her things and slides to the end of the seat, she finds James holding the door open for her.





	you and me and the road ahead

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, hello, I LOVE THESE TWO TOGETHER!
> 
> Started pre-season 3 premiere so it's not exactly canon compliant but it definitely plays with Edge and James and Lena having to come together against that douche. Originally conceived this as being the first bits of a long slow burn story for them, but have since decided that I'll probably just play around in this verse a lot this season. Enjoy!
> 
> Oh, also, I have no fucking clue about Superman canon. In this, James has known Clark (and Lex) since Smallville

Lena can't tell if she's surprised or not to see that she has a 7:30 am meeting with James Olsen.

Ever since Mr. Edge strutted into her office two days ago with his ridiculous and infuriating business proposals and veiled threats, she suspected to hear from a few other CEOs in the blocks surrounding L-Corp. Mr. Olsen actually coming down to her office though?

Lena shakes her head and settles in the seat of her cab, doing her best to get this awful wheatgrass smoothie down as fast as she can. She taps out a text to Kara, then goes to her work email and starts looking over the latest schematics R&D sent over from Singapore. By the time she arrives at her building, she's already sent back her revisions for the clean air device and Kara has blown up her phone with a litany of facts about James Olsen, as if Lena has never met the man before. 

The sidewalk is already bustling with people, everyone trying to beat the morning rush which only results in an earlier than usual morning rush, and when her cab door swings open before she's even finished paying her driver, Lena has to take a long, deep breath so that she doesn't snap at whoever is rushing her. Except no one starts clambering inside and when Lena gathers her things and slides to the end of the seat, she finds James holding the door open for her. Her business smile slips on easily but she still arches an eyebrow at the man as she stands. “Mr. Olsen, I don't believe our meeting is for another half hour,” she says, polite, as she checks her watch.

“I didn't want to hold you up, Ms. Luthor.” His tongue is thick over her last name and she can see him trying to stamp down his distrust of her as he speaks. “I have it on good authority that a Mr. Edge has approached regarding a real estate deal.” A busy commuter slides into the cab before James can close the door but he doesn't let it faze him, just continues to level Lena with a serious look and a tone of voice a bit too rough for this kind of meeting. 

“I hope whoever,” Lena says with a pointed tilt of her chin, cellphone hot in her palm, “informed you of that also told you that I told Mr. Edge I’d sooner visit Lex than deal with him.” James shifts at the mention of her brother’s name, shoulders squaring and Lena notices the way James’ coffee cup bends beneath his fingertips. Lena, for her part, stays as relaxed as she ever lets herself be when at the office. She will not let James’ attitude towards her and her family wilt her in anyway. 

James nods. “He doesn't exactly take no lightly.” James takes a deep breath and obviously looks around when he adds, “which is why CatCo will be standing with L-Corp.”

A smirk pulls at her lips before she can even fight it. “And how does ‘CatCo’ feel about this?”

His eyebrows drop, a soft glare cast in her direction. “Edge is a prick and a united front is our best shot,” he says, open and genuine for the first time this morning. “His offers could've sent our stocks through the roof but his means-”

“Were exploitive, corrupt, and laced with all kinds of sexism, at least on my end,” Lena finishes. 

A shadow of a grin passes over James’ face. “He seemed more racist to me.” Lena raises her eyebrows, her smirk taking on a more playful edge as she nods her head. “Him scooping up any real estate here is bad news for everyone.”

“I have to say, I'm surprised you think he's worse than getting into bed with a Luthor.”

His nostrils flare a bit and Lena would be lying if she didn't find it at least a little fun to push his buttons. “Lex would've taken his offer,” is all James says and Lena knows he's right. “The fact that you didn't means something.”

Lena hums. “How wonderful of you to finally realize that,” she remarks as she starts walking toward the building. She tries, she really does, to stamp down her amused smirk when James follows. She's hardly successful but that's okay because James is looking even more irritated than before once he catches sight of her face. “Get your PR team in contact with mine. I'm sure they'll come up with some strategy suitable for both our companies.” She checks her watch and finds that she has plenty of time before she needs to be in the office, especially now that James has met her outside. She turns on her heel to look at him. “Kara pestered you didn't she?”

James ducks his head and his shoulders lift in a sort of shrug. Lena’s lips quirk. “She thought it would be more friendly if I approached you outside of work hours,” he admits with a fond rolling of his eyes. “I also got a list of things you like.”

“As if this meeting was more than business,” Lena quips. 

James nods. “Exactly.” He offers her hand. “Ms. Luthor.”

She takes his hand and he seems surprised by the force of her grip. “Mr. Olsen.”

\--

Edge is already on hold by the time he gets into his office. Eve tells him that there were three voicemails from the mogul before anyone even got to the office and that he's called twice, each time accusing that she'd purposefully forgot about him. Eve’s face is full of lines marking her worry and stress and James, despite letting his annoyance show, puts a hand on her shoulder in comfort. “Go get some breakfast. Recharge for a bit before we tackle the day.”

She smiles at him warmly before going round her desk to get her purse.

The red light on his phone blinks obnoxiously as he settles down in his seat. He rubs at the space between his eyes and picks up the phone. Before he can get a word in, Edge laughs unkindly. “So late to the office, Mr. Olsen. Have trouble getting out of bed?”

“With all due respect,” James starts, trying his best to keep his tone even. “I don't like any of my employees in before eight am and I try to respect that myself. Self care is important, Mr. Edge.”

Edge scoffs. “Self care doesn't build empires.”

“But it sustains them,” James retorts. “What can I do for you?” Edge starts waxing poetic about his building development and James finds himself rolling his eyes. James wakes up his computer but keeps the screens behind him dark. He can't deal with all the movement, not yet, even if it is behind him. Vibrations start in his pocket, three quick buzzes before stopping. It's a text from Kara, the preview showing a string of angry emojis. It couldn't possibly be about Lena. While he wasn't friendly, he'd been cordial, completely professional. 

He opens the text message and is met with all caps. She got a tip about some more real estate Edge is trying to scoop up, this time in a predominantly alien neighborhood. The alien food bank would be among the land purchased. 

“Mr. Edge,” he says, cutting off the other man sharply. “I apologize but no matter how you dress up  _ either  _ of your developments, we are not interested in supporting you in any way.”

It's silent for a moment before Edge growls out, “I've only told you about one development.”

James smirks. “I know.” He types out a thank you to Kara and a promise that he won't let that development get built. He pauses. He adds Lena’s name to the text too, knowing the other woman would help Kara with anything, at least for now.

Edge is already vaguely threatening him but James simply hangs up the receiver.

\--

She has no interest in fielding any of Edge’s ridiculous attempts to get her to agree to help him. She has Jess reroute his calls to various charity organization and when he attempts to enter LCorp tower, she has security send him back out.

So, naturally, he happens to be at Noonan’s the same time she is.

He struts up to where she sits and she doesn't even bother to look up from her phone. “Are we taking to light stalking now, Mr. Edge?” 

He sits across from her, unbuttoning his suit jacket as he does so. He hadn't even had the decency to get a drink first to maintain some sort of illusion. “I thought it was best to not corner you at tomorrow’s charity event to rebuild National City.”

Her lips thin into a tight smile. “How kind of you,” she drawls. She sends a text telling Kara she might be late for their lunch date. “I do wish you would get the hint and respect that I want nothing to do with you.” Kara responds instantly with assurance that she doesn't mind waiting, followed by some complaints about Snapper. She lets her phone go dark in her hand, uses the black screen to double check her lipstick. She looks up at Edge and she keeps her face blank as she takes in his face. His eyebrows are professionally maintained but droop low over hard eyes that remind her too much of Lex’s lawyer. He looks like he's inspecting her, appraising disappointingly, but she won't give him the advantage of moving under his gaze. She lets an eyebrow arch. 

“You know, everyone else I approached has agreed to a sit down to at least hear my presentation.” His fingers drum on the table top and it rattles her coffee mug on its saucer. “Seems like a bad move for Luthor Corp to not even have a seat at the table.”

Lena hums and digs the heel of her shoe into her ankle. “Seeing as Luthor Corp no longer exists-”

“You know what I mean, Lena.”

She can't stop the glare from over taking her features. “I sincerely doubt that  _ everyone _ has agreed to see this presentation,” Lena says. “There's no way CatCo would agree.”

Edge smirks. “You seem to regard Mr. Olsen much higher than he does you.”

Lena shrugs, folds her arms under her chest lightly. “And I notice that you’re not denying it.”

The waitress who took her order returns with a white box wrapped up with a bow made of twine and she looks nervously between the two of them, stopping just short of the table. Edge doesn’t spare her a glance but Lena smiles at her, warm, and takes the opportunity to stand up. “One dozen sticky buns, Miss.”

Lena thanks her and tips her personally, despite the fact that she already dropped a twenty in the jar on the counter. Box dangling from her fingertips, Lena grabs her purse off the back of her chair with her other hand. “Regardless of what Mr. Olsen thinks of me, I know he is a very smart businessman and I stand with CatCo. I will not be doing any business with you, Mr. Edge.”

His jaw clenches and it’s enough to make Lena’s smile grow a little more genuine as she walks out.

\--

“So.” James turns to find Lena walking up to him, one hand holding the excess fabric of her dress so she doesn’t step on it, the other holding an untouched glass of champagne. Her red lips are stretched into what he thinks could be a genuine smile but he can’t be sure and so his own smile remains forced at the edges. “Has Edge assaulted you outside of work yet?”

James stands straighter then, his smile falling completely. “Assaulted,” he repeats and his voice is lower than he expected, a growl curling just below the surface. He may not trust Lena but she’s done nothing to warrant-

“Poor choice of words,” Lena cuts in. Her hand falls soft on his forearm and he looks down to realize just how tight he was gripping his own glass. “He cornered me at Noonan’s about sitting in on the presentation.”

He lets his body relax, nods his head and refrains from laughing at himself for overreacting. Not that he would put it past Edge to do more than corner Lena. “I’ve been lucky,” James says. “He’s just continued to call me damn near every day.” 

Lena hums and takes a sip of her drink, leaving the barest imprint of her lips on the glass. “Have you actually been taking the calls?” At his nod, Lena smirks but there’s something off about it. It reminds him of Kara, when she smiles but he knows she’d rather not. “See, I’ve been rerouting his calls. Probably why I got the surprise attack.”

James sighs and lets the elbow that rests on the table take his weight as he studies Lena a little more carefully. She’s looking out at the rest of the people milling about but she looks tired despite her made up face and perfect posture. “Edge didn’t,” he starts and her head turns to him, confusion sitting in her eyes but her features almost soft. He can’t quite find the words he wants, either being too much or not enough and he finds himself sighing again at his inability to just ask Lena if she’s okay.

Lena puts her hand on his arm again, this time squeezing gently. “Everything is alright,” she says. “Nothing unscrupulous happened if that’s what you’re worrying about.” He knows the smile that stretches her cheeks now is genuine when she adds, “Besides, do you really think Edge would be here tonight if he’d done something untoward? You know as well as I do that Kara wouldn’t have let him go unscathed.”

He finds himself laughing despite himself and Lena’s smile gets a little wider. “I’m glad,” he says truthfully after a moment. Lena looks a little surprised but doesn’t say anything else, just takes another drink of her champagne.

\--

The one downfall of standing near James for the bulk of the night is that, once all the speeches are over, Edge instantly comes over to them. It’s disgusting to watch, really. He exchanges gentle pleasantries to those who try to stop him as he passes but he makes it over to where she and James stand in near record time. She downs the rest of her drink just so that she doesn’t have to work as hard on schooling her face.

James stands up and she worries for a moment that he may leave her to deal with Edge alone despite whatever kindness he showed her earlier. Instead he clears his throat and, before Edge can even tell them hello, says, “If you swear to stop harassing Ms. Luthor outside of work, I will sit in on your presentation.”

Her head snaps to look up at James, eyebrows reaching toward her hairline and eyes wide. A glance at Edge tells her he’s just as surprised as she is. She goes to protest but James shakes his head and smiles in her direction kindly before leveling Edge with a hard look. “Do we have a deal, Mr. Edge?”

Edge chuckles and ignores James’ outstretched hand in favor of looking at Lena. “Still going to stand with CatCo,” he asks, smile so sharp she wishes, not for the first time, that she could punch him square in the teeth.

She elongates herself, squares her shoulder as she nods, firm. “If CatCo sits at the table, so will LCorp.” Edge shakes James’ hand and the power struggle that clearly flows from that handshake is enough to make her want to roll her eyes. “But the constant calls to both of us stop,” Lena adds. “A single call or impromptu visit to either myself or Mr. Olsen and this deal is off.” Edge dips his head in acknowledgement and the two are  _ still _ shaking hands. Lena huffs, swats at their joined hands. “Enough with the measuring contest, please.”

James lets go first which only causes Edge to grin wider but before anything else can fall from the jackass’s mouth, she fits her arm through James’ and guides them away. He’s a little stiff, no doubt from being so close to her, but he moves with her easy enough that they make it over to the coat check without any problems. She spots Jess and waves her over, amused at Jess’ own confused look cast her way. “That was unnecessary of you,” she tells James, pulling herself away from him so she can face him head on. “But thank you, truly.”

She can see the warring emotions in his eyes and, though she's equally surprised by tonight’s turn of events, she finds herself smirking just a little. Jess comes up with her coat and her purse and Lena takes both gratefully. Jess murmurs that she's submitted both checks and with her contributions safely in the hands of the mayor’s team, there's really no need to linger at this event any longer. James doesn't make a move to help with her coat but Lena notices the slight shift in his stance, the way his hands fist at his sides, like he's stopping himself from offering. 

It reminds her of the first time she met him, when she was nothing more than the little sister of Lex, angrily leaving the Luthor Christmas party. She can't be sure anymore what she'd been upset about but she remembers stomping down the stairs, arms getting tangled in her haste to put on her coat, of waiting at the bottom step for a driver and seeing James, who was nothing but a stretch of skin and bones, stare at her from across the porch. He stayed rooted in his spot then too, no doubt from the snarl she's sure she sent his way, but she remembers the way he swayed towards her first, the way he coughed into his fist before telling her she should bundle up or she’d freeze.

James clears his throats and there's a smile, she thinks, a real one, casting shadow on his features. “Goodnight, Lena.”

The absence of her last name reverberates in her chest and a swoop of something swims in her belly. “Goodnight, James.”

**Author's Note:**

> Come yell at me on tumblr @idontneedtobeforgiven


End file.
